Copyright (c) 2008 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Monday, June 30th, 2008
By: Rosie Johnston
* A third man has been charged with disorderly conduct following
Saturday's gay rights march in Brno.
* The American private detective agency Kroll has finished auditing
Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek's finances.
* Nicole Vaidisova is through to the quarter finals at Wimbledon.
========================================================================
Third man charged following gay parade disruption
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A third man has been charged with disorderly conduct following
Saturday's gay rights march in Brno. The march, which was the first of
its kind in the Czech Republic, was disrupted when an unknown
perpetrator threw tear gas at revelers. Two of those arrested have been
charged with disturbance of the peace, having thrown eggs at gay rights
campaigners, the third man is charged with propagating Nazism, having
worn an SS belt. An estimated 150 far-right extremists turned out to
protest against Saturday's march. Police are still searching for the
individual who threw the tear gas, injuring 20.
========================================================================
Audit into deputy PM's finances complete
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The American private detective agency Kroll has finished auditing
Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek's finances, Hospodarske noviny
reported on Monday. The audit is now in the hands of Foreign Minister
Karel Schwarzenberg, who commissioned and paid for the investigation.
Mr Schwarzenberg has said that he will discuss the audit's findings
with Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and Jiri Cunek himself in ten days
time, after he has returned from an official visit to the Caucuses.
The leader of the Christian Democrats, Jiri Cunek, was forced to resign
from his government posts last November, in connection with corruption
allegations. The investigation into whether he accepted bribes was
subsequently dropped, and Mr Cunek was able to return to the
government. But coalition partners, the Greens, were not fully
satisfied that Mr Cunek had cleared his name, and thus Green Party MP
Karel Schwarzenberg paid for a private investigation into the
corruption allegations.
========================================================================
Czechs give Afghan air force three helicopters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Czech military has donated three Mi-17 transport helicopters to the
Afghan air force in a bid to modernize the Central Asian nation's
fleet. The Afghan air force has already received three such helicopters
from the Czech Defence Ministry in the last year. In addition, the
Defence Ministry says it plans to provide Afghanistan with six combat
helicopters by the end of 2009. The Czech Republic is working alongside
the United States to build up the Afghan air force. America has pledged
120 planes to the Afghan military.
========================================================================
Minister Stehlikova: Czech towns want stricter gambling laws
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over 80 percent of Czech towns would like to implement more stringent
gambling regulations, found a survey commissioned by the Minister for
Minorities and Human Rights Dzamila Stehlikova. Over 85 percent of
towns polled said that the negative effects of gambling - such as crime
- cost the municipality more than the profits generated through
gambling tax. Minister Stehlikova's poll comes weeks before a vote on
new gambling laws. Deputies are set to discuss whether internet and
mobile phone gambling should be outlawed, as well as whether casinos
should be banned from opening near schools. According to Finance
Ministry data, each adult Czech spends on average 12,900 crowns (852
USD) on gambling each year. There are thought to be around 100,000
gambling addicts in the Czech Republic.
========================================================================
Foreign debt up in first quarter of 2008
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Czech Republic's foreign debt rose in the first quarter of 2008 by
137 billion crowns (9 billion USD) year-on-year to 1,354 billion crowns
(89.2 billion USD). This figure accounts for 37.4 percent of GDP. The
Czech National Bank released the figures on Monday, linking the rise in
foreign debt to a rise in the number of short term loans commercial
banks had taken out since the start of the year.
========================================================================
Skoda Auto to supply Czech police with over 2800 new cars
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skoda Auto is to provide the Czech police force with over 2800 new
vehicles in a deal worth over 1.32 billion crowns (87 million USD). On
Monday, police officials signed a contract with the carmaker; both
parties stressed that they were happy the Czech police would be driving
a Czech-made car. Skoda is expected to deliver the first 500 vehicles
by November this year, with the remaining cars to be delivered before
the end of 2011. A police spokesperson said that there was an option in
the contract for a further 700 cars to be supplied in the next four
years.
========================================================================
First group of Czech police set off for summer duty in Croatia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A group of Czech police officers have left for Croatia, where they will
be on hand to assist the vast number of Czech tourists who flock to the
country on holiday each year. Some 14 Czech police officers set off for
Split on Monday, where they will work alongside their Croatian
counterparts until September 1. They will be joined by more Czech
officers later in the season. The Czech police have been drafted in to
help with traffic accidents in particular, but will also be expected to
work as interpreters. Some 600,000 Czechs are expected to visit Croatia
this year. Most are expected to visit Makarska and the Dalmatian coast.
========================================================================
Prague set to fine litterbugs as of Tuesday
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A new decree comes into effect in Prague on Tuesday which will see
those who drop cigarette ends or chewing gum fined up to 30,000 crowns
(nearly 2,000 USD). The decree is part of Prague City Hall's bid to
clean up the capital, but opponents say that the edict has not been
properly publicized, and that tourists remain largely uninformed.
Police will be given powers to hand out on-the-spot, thousand-crown,
fines to those caught littering, feeding the pigeons and not cleaning
up the soap suds after washing their cars. As punishment for larger
infringements, individuals will be referred to the authorities.
========================================================================
Korda makes Czech golf history
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fifteen-year-old Jessica Korda has made Czech golf history, finishing
joint 19th in the US Open golf tournament. Korda finished first in the
final day's play, catapulting her from 58th place comfortably into the
top 20. In what was Korda's first major tournament, the Czech golfer
finished ahead of the world women's number one, the Mexican Lorena
Ochoa, and one of the favourites for the tournament, Sweden's Annika
Sorenstam. The daughter of former Czech tennis ace, Petr Korda, is the
only Czech to have ever made the cut at the US Open.
========================================================================
Vaidisova through to the quarter finals at Wimbledon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech women's tennis number one Nicole Vaidisova is through to the
quarter finals at Wimbledon, having beaten the Russian Anna Chakvedatze
in three sets on Monday. The last Czech in the tournament beat the
championship's eighth seed 4:6, 7:6, 6:3. Vaidisova now goes on to play
China's Jie Zheng in the quarter finals. Wimbledon marks a return to
form for Vaidisova, who in the three months leading up to the
tournament won only two matches.
========================================================================
Weather
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storms are forecast for Monday afternoon, with meteorologists
predicting strong winds and hailstones. The weather is set to clear up
into Tuesday, with temperatures reaching up to 28 degrees Celsius.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
------------------------------------------------------------------------
One on One
Bill Cohn on Prague, ethics, and today's Czech students
------------------------------------------------------------------------
My guest today is Bill Cohn, a New York born lawyer, constitutional law
professor and teacher. Bill has lived in the Czech Republic for a
number of years, dividing his time between teaching media and ethics at
the University of New York in Prague, writing for publications such as
the Prague Post and working as a legal consultant.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/105663
Current Affairs
Prague through the eyes of Jiri Vsetecka
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Old Royal Palace at Prague Castle is currently hosting an
exhibition of photographs by Jiri Vsetecka, a photographer who is best
known for his pictures of the Czech capital. The exhibition entitled
Prazsky chodec or Prague Walker takes place on the occasion of the
photographer's 70th birthday. It looks back at his career, spanning
more than 50 years.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/105650
Current Affairs
An era ends with the death of Prague writer Lenka Reinerova
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prague has lost one of its best-known and best-loved literary figures.
The writer Lenka Reinerova died on Friday at the age of 92. Her novels
and stories, which drew richly from her adventurous life, were written
in her native German, and she was often described as Prague's last
German writer. Lenka Reinerova was one of few surviving witnesses of
the rich German speaking literary world of Prague between the wars, and
she knew many of its best known figures, including Max Brod and the
famous ,,roving reporter", Egon Erwin Kisch. David Vaughan looks back at
her life.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/105649
Current Affairs
Country's first-ever gay parade clashes with extremists
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first-ever gay parade in the Czech Republic took to the streets of
Brno on Saturday, despite threats by neo-Nazi and other extremist
groups. Even a heavy police presence at the march failed to prevent
attacks by anti-gay protesters who shouted insults and even threw tear
gas at marching gay rights activists.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/105648
Sports News
Sports News 6.30.2008
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Sports News this Monday: Radek Stepanek is so frustrated at going
out in the third round at Wimbledon that he breaks six rackets; Nicole
Vaidisova enjoys something of a return to form at the tournament;
Jaromir Jagr is considering his future as his contract with New York
Rangers comes to an end; and the Czech football association make an
embarrassing claim that Gerard Houllier wants the job of Czech coach,
while Klaus Toppmoller's wage demands could rule him out.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/105644
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail is sent to you automatically according to the settings you
chose at http://www.radio.cz/en/subscribe. To change the settings, click
here. (C) 2008, Radio Prague - the international service of Czech Radio,
all rights reserved. http://www.radio.cz, E-mail: cr@radio.cz
'Queer Pride' Parades in India
